


Regret and Remorse

by megupic



Series: ML Drabbles [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Chat Noir Reveal, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Gen, Major Character Injury, agreste family, partial reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2019-09-12 10:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16871578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megupic/pseuds/megupic
Summary: Adrien is gravely injured in an akuma fight, which causes Gabriel to re-evaluate.





	Regret and Remorse

Gabriel Agreste shoved through the crowd, intent on one thing and one thing only: Adrien. Everything leading up to that point seemed like a blur: the fight, Adrien storming out, Ladybug and Chat Noir finally finding him, Chat Noir activating his cataclysm, the aftermath, and then seeing his son buried under all that rubble.

 _How ironic_ , he thought to himself, _I became_ Le Papillon _to protect Adrien and gain the miraculouses’ absolute power to bring my family back together and all its done is destroy it further._

It took everything he had not to run towards Adrien in the middle of the rubble and cradle his broken body and make sure no one ever laid a hand on him again.

 _But you’re the one who hurt him,_  his conscience hissed. _This is all your fault._

So instead, Gabriel had melted into the shadows, not even caring about the discarded and faded butterfly broach on the ground, Nooroo safely tucked away inside. He’d just taken one look at Adrien and the small, black ball of fur next to him and found he couldn’t breathe. He’d left his son with Ladybug because really, she was probably more capable at keeping Adrien safe and made sure he got medical attention than he deserved to even do. He’d hurt, potentially _killed_ , his one and only son.

 

But that didn’t keep Gabriel from pushing through the crowds at the hospital, ignoring the shouts directed towards him that he “couldn’t go back there”. Half the city was in the hospital thanks to him, but right now the only one who mattered was the boy in room 203.

Then he was in front of the door, heart threatening to beat right out of his chest as he stood there, steeling himself for whatever he was going to find inside. With a shaking hand, he reached forward, turned the door handle, and pushed inside.

The first thing he noticed was how quiet it was. Outside the room, the world was a chaotic mess that smelled of blood and smoke. But inside Adrien’s hospital room, it was as if he’d stepped into another world altogether. Everything was still and so silent, save for the steady beeping of the heart monitor and Adrien’s shallow breaths, that Gabriel’s ears rung. Everything smelled sterile…lacking life.

Gabriel’s eyes slid to the fragile frame lying in the bed, impossibly still. In that moment, it wasn’t Adrien laying there, but his wife. Thin and pale, he’d held her hand until the very last moment, her very last breath.

He blinked and returned to the present, rushing forward to Adrien’s side and dropping down to his knees. He picked up his son’s bandaged hand. He knew what lay beneath the bandages, cataclysm burns, from Chat Noir’s desperate attempt to grab Gabriel’s miraculous before it was too late. He’d blocked the attack with a mass of butterflies and the colliding miraculous energy had caused the explosion…

Tears blurred Gabriel’s vision and he clutched at his son’s hand, weaving Adrien’s fingers with his. He pressed his forehead to their tangle of hands and felt the hot tears slowly trail down his face.

“I am so sorry, Adrien. I didn’t mean for it to happen this way.”

He didn’t know how long he knelt there, letting the tears he’d suppressed for so long flow and holding his fragile, broken son. His legs had gone numb and his eyes felt puffy and he was thoroughly drained.

 _Maybe I should just go home…_ he thought numbly.

But then Adrien stirred and emitted a quiet, low groan.

“Father…?”

Gabriel’s head shot up and he stared wide-eyed at his son, who was staring at him with a tired, but equally surprised gaze.

“Adrien!” he breathed, and moved up to the head of the bed and pulled Adrien into his arms, careful of the wires and cords connecting his son to the life support systems. He clung to him, murmuring apology after apology into his hair.

What Gabriel couldn’t see though, was the look of shock on Adrien’s face that quickly melted into a small smile.


End file.
